Frequently Asked Questions for the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program

The answer is BOTH. A proposal that is a strong candidate for funding must have both. It must address an important health or medical problem, but it must also advance computer science, engineering, and/or social/behavioral science. A competitive project should demonstrate strength in both as NSF review panels will evaluate the novelty and merit of the fundamental science and health contributions of the work proposed.

There is no requirement for a health organization to be part of the team. However, it is important to have the appropriate health expertise in the proposal. As the solicitation indicates, the objective is to address health-related problems, so it is necessary to demonstrate the health expertise is integrated in the proposal. Whether you have a health expert as a co-PI, include a sub-award, or use another mechanism, you must convince the reviewers that your team has the necessary expertise. This is true for both NSF and NIH.

The main benefit is that this program has different review criteria. It funds projects that do not fit NSF and NIH core or standing programs. If the proposed work makes sense for a core or standing program at either agency, then it will not benefit you to submit to SCH. Smart and Connected Health proposals must conform to the NSF criteria and style (not NIH) because it will be submitted to NSF for review. Applying to this program will benefit you if the proposed ideas and efforts do not fit within any other existing programs. A discussion with the relevant NSF or NIH program officers will be valuable in helping you make that determination.

NSF and NIH work very closely together to support this research. NSF has allocated funds for this solicitation and NIH will be supporting a portion of projects from their own funds. There are multiple opportunities for funding. Decisions are based on funding levels and mission. Both agencies aim to fund proposals of the highest quality. A benefit of applying to this program is the potential to be funded by either NSF or NIH.

NSF selects each SCH review panel, but with considerable input from NIH research officers and reviewers to ensure an appropriate range of expertise. Reviewers selected have often served on review panels at NIH. All SCH panels take place at NSF with NIH presence and support.

NSF collaborative proposals are definitely allowed. A key objective of the program is to develop and encourage integrated multidisciplinary teams of researchers that will work closely together in a seamless way.

Yes, proposals with more than one investigator must have a collaboration plan. Proposals with multiple investigators without a collaboration plan will be returned without review.

There is a limit of one (1) PI and four (4) co-PIs per proposal, but there is also a limit on the available funds. It is important to ensure that the co-PIs’ effort and importance to the project are clear.

The NSF requires one person be designated as the PI from each institution, with additional personnel listed as co-PIs or senior personnel. The NSF allows collaborative proposals, that is, linked proposals with separate budgets but a single project description, submitted from different institutions. In such cases, each institution in the collaboration has its own PI. For proposals submitted to this program that are chosen for funding directly by the NIH, the resubmission to NIH will be subject to NIH rules; that is, a single proposal with multiple principal investigators.

Yes, but this does not require an extensively detailed explanation, as you will be submitting an additional document detailing human subjects issues (see below). If you already have Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, you can note that in your proposal. Please see the NSF GRANT PROPOSAL GUIDE for details.

In addition to the main proposal, proposals involving human subjects should include a supplementary document of no more than two pages in length summarizing potential risks to human subjects, plans for recruitment and informed consent, inclusion of women, minorities, and children, and planned procedures to protect against or minimize potential risks.

There is a potential for jointly funded proposals, as well as proposals solely funded by either NSF or NIH. If NIH opts to fully fund a proposal the process will involve submission of the proposal to NIH (sending a paper copy of the NSF submission with a cover letter) for fast-tracked funding and withdrawal of the proposal from NSF consideration.

Yes. The solicitation-specific review criteria include Education and Training.

In addition, if the proposed work includes a post-doctoral fellow in the project, the proposal is required to have a mentoring plan.

Only those NIH Institutes/Centers listed are participating in this solicitation. There are many reasons for selective NIH Institutes/Centers participation. It is not necessarily from a lack of interest. If you're interested in submitting a proposal that meets criteria in the solicitation, but the Institute/Center is not listed on this solicitation, the proposal should be submitted through standard NIH mechanisms including contacting the appropriate program officer. If you do not know a program officer, send Wendy Nilsen (wnilsen@nsf.gov) a message describing your project and she will connect you with someone at the appropriate NIH Institute or Center.

NSF does not directly fund for-profit companies. NSF does, however, allow academic or non-profit organizations to include a sub-award for a portion of the work to a for-profit entity, with justification.